What inspires you?Isn't that a great question? I'm inspired by so many different things. Nature, architecture, blogs, magazines, pinterest, HGTV, my daughters, and the list goes on. And around here the past few days the weather has been very spring-like and I've been inspired to set out some brighter things around the house.

I recently revived an small, old, wooden drop leaf table that had seen much better days. It will be a perfect table for a small entry, a small eat-in kitchen, or even a night stand. I wanted to give it a bright and colorful makeover and used a cheerful, vintage-looking green paint.

This fun project is part of a monthly themed furniture makeover challenge that some of my furniture painting friends and I put together to inspire you, our readers. There are some super creative and talented ladies in this group and I'm thrilled to be able to join them. This month's theme is "Inspired By".

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. If a purchase is made after clicking one of the links I might make a small commission. Your price does not change. For full disclosure, go here.

The main inspiration piece is the table with the hot cocoa sign, but mine ended up with green legs. All of the other pieces were my inspiration for color.

And now for the transformation of this fun piece. It's come a long way, baby.

It was painted in a pale pink shade when I got it. And underneath the pink was red, gray, and white. UGH. For some (crazy) reason I envisioned it with all that paint stripped off of the top and the wood exposed. And once I get something in my head it's pretty hard to change my mind. I'm flawed that way.

Even the hinges on this piece were covered in layers of paint. But I had a vision. And I'm stubborn, remember?

After the chemical paint stripper I tried didn't remove all of those layers of paint, I ended up buying a new sander. It worked great but created a ton of dust, even with the bag that's supposed to catch all of it. *Note to self - do this outside the next time. :)

I have to tell you that even with the sander it took me at least a couple of hours to get all the paint off the table top and underneath. Wearing gloves is recommended to help cut down on the vibrations from the sander. And always wear a respirator and safety glasses when using a sander. Even with all that, I think it was definitely worth the effort.

Next up, stain and finish. I stained the wood with Zar Mocha and finished it with 2 coats of Zar Antique Flat Polyurethane, sanding lightly in between coats. The photo above shows what the drop leaf looked like after removing the old layers of paint but before staining.

Green wasn't the only choice for the legs, as you can see. I tried a deep brown and a turquoise too.

I finally narrowed down the color to Benjamin Moore Central Park 431 and painted all the legs.

After the paint dried I applied a coat of dark wax and then buffed it slightly after it dried. Once that was all done and the top of the table and leaves were dry, it was time to put it all back together and take it home from the shop.

Although I don't have this color anywhere else in our house and it was met with questioning looks (from my youngest) when I brought it home, I'm really liking it.

It's different. It's fun. It's quirky, like me.

This project really got me thinking about what inspires me so many of the items you see here are things I find inspiring.

A few of my favorite magazines, my favorite Turkish throw, and some velvet ribbon that I love made it into the photo.

And I just posted a tutorial for making an Anthropologie-inspired pompom garland here, so you might be seeing more of those made from the green yarn pictured as well as some pink and blue yarn that I picked up a couple of days ago. I was feeling inspired. :)

I adore the contoured edges of this little table and the way they turned out.

And thankfully the wood grain looks as good as I had hoped it would.

The 2 coats of poly means that it will be extremely durable and water resistant and might make a great little kitchen table someday.

A few items that I like to look at. Flowers, a blue mason jar, an ironstone platter, some favorite books.

The old frame is painted in Benjamin Moore Blue Spa 2052-40. And the sign was painted by my 15-year-old daughter. She gave it to my husband for Christmas and I stole it for the photo shoot. I'll be framing it as soon as I can find a frame to fit it.

Now that I've set out all of these spring colored things, there's snow in the forecast. Wouldn't you know it? Probably just flurries, but we're not out of the woods yet with the winter weather. Oh well, I can just look at these things and automatically feel warmer!

That table looks just like the old one I sold to Haven's Antiques in Oregon City, OR!!! You made it look lovely! When my husband died I had to sell my home and many items. He bought several pieces of furniture, an antique frame mirror with amber colored mirror, many knick knacks...I just could not keep it all. I hope the pieces found new homes where they are enjoyed! Maybe someone like you updated them!

Hi Rose. Thank you for taking the time to share the story of your table. It sounds like your husband had excellent taste. I hope you were able to keep your favorite things. And I hope the others found happy homes too. I'm so glad you like the way I gave this one a new life. Have a wonderful weekend. ~ Angie

Welcome! I'm Angie and my hope is to inspire you by sharing beautiful places and spaces, good food, and anything that makes life easier. Click the photo to learn my story. Or reach out to me at angie@postcardsfromtheridge.com.